Container



7 Sept. 18, 1928.

LAMB ET AL CONTAINER Filed March 21, 1925 I! TTORNE B Patented Sept. 18.1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH F. LAMB AND FRANK W. SCHADE, OF NEW. BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT,ASSIGNORS T0 LANDEBS, IRARY &; CLARK, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A.CORPORATION 01 oonrnnmn.

Application filed March 21, 1925. Serial. No. 1?,169.

This invention relates to improvements in containers and particularly tocontainers of the type in which the contents may be kept, for a time, ata given temperature.

It is one of the principal objects of the invention to provideacontainer of the type in which an inner receptacle or crock-isinsulatedby a filling material between it and an outer casing, in which a damagedreceptacle or crock may be readily removed and a new one substituted atsmall expense compared with the cost of a complete container.

It is a further object of the invention to provide effective andconvenient closure means for the container mouth and to provideacontainer having a number of cups conveniently associated therewith.

With these general ob ects 1I1V16W the invention consists in thefeatures, combinations, details of construction and arrangements ofparts which will first be described in connection with the accompanyingdrawing and then more particularly pointed out.

' In the drawing: I

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of-a container constructed inaccordance with the invention; and,

Figure 2 is a plan view (reduced) of one of the parts.

7 Referring to the drawing, the container illustrated as an exemplifyingembodiment of the invention, comprises an inner receptacle in the formof a crock 11 having a somewhat narrowed mouth portion 12. The mouth,however, is fairly large so that the container is available for otherfood roducts than thin liquids. The container urther comprlses an outermetal casing 13 which encloses-the inner receptacle and is spacedasubstantial distance therefrom This casing has a bottom opening that islarger in diameter than the largest diameter of the inner receptacle sothat the receptacle must pass therethrough. In the embodimentillustrated as an example, this bottom opening is defined by the uprightwall 14 of a shouldered flange 15 on the casing. At the top, the casinghas a narrowed neck roughly conforming to theshapc of the crock. Theuppermost part of the casing neck is close to the crock and terminatesin flange 16 extending inwardly to the crock. Between the shoulderformed by flange 16 and a shoulder 17 formed on the crock is a resilientgasket 18. This construction provides a seat for the upper part of thecrock and closes the space between the crock and casing to confine thefilling material later described. The casmg 13 may be constructed invarious ways,

that shown being formed of severalpieces permanentl secured together byturning over the a oinmg edges as shown, for example, at 19.

' Forming a part of the casing but removably associated therewith is aclosure for the bottom opening. In the embodiment here illus-- trated asan example, there is provided a closure plate 20 having at its peripherya downwardly extending wall 21 termihating in an outwardly extendingflange 22. The shoulder formed by flange 22 is arranged to embraceclosely the shoulder formed by flange 15, in the manner indicated inFig. 1.

The closure plate 20 is removably secured in this position. As hereillustrated the closure plate is secured by four screws 23 taking into apart later described.

There is provided supporting means for the inner receptacle and this mayconveniently include a yieldable seat and means for placmg said scatunder tension. Although capable of various constructions, in that hereshown as an example, a four armed spider 25, supported as laterdescribed, has a central boss 26 through which is threaded a screw 27provided. with an abutment head 28. Below the boss is a check nut 29.The abutment head of the screw engages a central depression 30 in acup-shaped support 31. This support, near its edge, is shouldered asshown to receive the bottom of the crock 11, The cupshaped supp0rt31 issupported on the head of screw 27 and when the screw is tightened,

the support is placed under some tension.

This construction provides a suitable resilient support for the crock,and one particularly adaptable to containers of the type shown which arerelatively large and heavy.

The arms of spider 25 have downwardly extending flanges 34 and at theends the arms have'suspension lugs 35 extending outwardly beyond theends of flanges 34. In assembling the container the spider is insertedinto the bottom opening of the casing 13 and its sus-- pension lugs 35are freely seated onthe top edge or ring of the upright wall 14. Thespider may be centered by the engagement of theends of flanges 34 withthe upright wall 14. In this connection, it is noted that there positionjust described.

.stituted, the assembly In the embodiment illustrated as an example,each arm of spider 25 has a ta ped boss 36 for receivin the screws 23.hen the parts are in v ened, the closure plate 20 is clamped firmlyagainst the shouldered flange of the casing and at the same time thespider is secured in position.-

There is provided in the space between the inner receptacle and thecasing, a filling of heat-insulating material. While this filling may beof any suitable form, in the embodiment illustrated there is a fillingof granular cork 37 This fillingserves to insulate the inner receptacle,whereby the temperature of the contents, whether hot or cold, may beretained for a substantial length of time.

The parts described are assembled with the casing inverted. The invertedcrock 11 is inserted and ositioned with its shoulder 17 engaging ga et18. Then a portion of the granular cork is packed in. The invertedsupport 31 is placed on the bottom of the crock, and more cork packedin. The spider 25 carrying screw 27 is put in place and the screwtightened up to place support 31 under tension. The final amount of corkis inserted and the, closure plate 20 is secured in place as described.

Should the crock become damaged, the parts may be disassembled in thereverse order. 7 hat is, the container is inverted, the screws 23 andthe closure plate 20 removed, the freely sus ended spider 25 is takenout, suflicient cor is removed to give access to the support 31which isalso removed. The receptacle =or crock and the remaining cork may bee'eeted in any desired manner. A new croc may then be subbeing as abovedescribed.

The construction described makes possible a container of theinsulating-filling type in which the inner receptacle may be replaced atrelatively small cost and, at the same time, one in which a large heavyreceptacle may be properly supported.

There is provided a closure for the container mouth and in.constructions embodying the invention to what is now considered the bestadvantage, the closure is arranged to be loosely associated with thecontainer and to be pressed into sealing relation when the container isto be transported and the like. Although capablebf variousconstructions, in that here shown as an example, the closure 40comprises a hollow sheetmetal body having a peripheral suspension flange41 on the underside ofwhich is secured a resilient gasket 42 of rubberor the like. This gasketed flange is arranged to seat freely on the rimof the container mouth to suspend the closure thereposition and thescrews 23 tight-' for a purmay be an additional cup. In the embodimenthere illustrated as an example, there is provided a set of three cups46, 47, 48 which have their side walls formed with offsets progressivelyvarying in degree, so that the cups may be nested with the bottom Of"OI18 cup engaging the -bottomof the next cup.

The nested cups may be inverted over the closed neck of the container sothat part of the inner cup engages part of the closure. In theembodiment shown, the inverted inner cup 48 has its bottom resting onand supported by the abutment of the closure and it is centered byitsrim in cooperation with the uppermost part of the neck of the casing13. I

The anchoring element in the present embodiment is anadditional cu 49capacitated to be inverted over the set 0 cups above described. Thisanchoring element or outer cup and the container have cooperating partsfor securing the cup on the container. As here shown, the rim ofpup 49is formed with a coarse screw thread portion 50 to engage a cooperatingthread 51 formedin the metal of the casing 13. As shown in Fig. 1, theneck of the casing is offset inwardly ust above the threaded portion 51to provide a space between the uppermost part of the neck and the cup 49for the rim of the intermediate cups. In order that the outer oranchoring cup may transmit pressure to the intermediate cups, it isprovided with an inward head 52 arranged to engage the next inner cup.

When the container is to be closed, the 010- 7 sure 40 is suspendedfreely on the rim of the container mouth and the nested intermediatecups inverted thereover. The outer cup 49 is inverted over theintermediate cups, in the nature of a cap element, and screwed down onthe neck of the casing to secure the parts in place. 'Whenthe parts areso ositioned the head 52 is pressed against the ottom of the next inneron 48. This pressure is transmitted throug cup 47 to cup 46, and thelatter is thus pressed against abutment 45. This pressure of thecups onthe closure 40 presses the same firmly against its seat to establishsealing relation with the receptacle. This not only seals the containermouth but also conveniently stores the several cups while the containeris being transported or the like.

When the contents of the container are to be consumed, the outer cup isunscrewed and the intermediate cups removed, all these cups being thusavailable for use as utensils. By keeping the closure 40 on its seat thecontainer may be kept covered during a period when frequent access tothe contents is desired but it is quickly and easily removed andreplaced. Moreover, the closure is of a type that is not easily damagedby use or made obsolete by wear.

The construction described makes possible a convenient means of closingthe container mouth and at the same time provides, in a simple andconvenient way, a number of cups for use with the container.

What we claim is:

1. A container comprising a metalcasing, a crock within the casing andspaced therefrom, the casing having a bottom opening capacitated forpassage of the crock, the easing having an upright shouldered flangedefining said opening, a supporting element seated on the edge of saidflange, a yieldable seat for the crock supported from said supportingelement, a heat-insulating filling material in the space between thecrock and casing, a closure for the bottom opening having a shoulderembracing the shoulder of the flange, and screws removably securing theclosure to said supporting element.

2. A container comprising an inner receptacle, an outer casing spacedtherefrom and having a bottom opening capacitated for passage of thereceptacle, the casing having an upright shouldered flange defining saidopening, a spider having its arms removabl supported on said flange, ayieldable seat or the receptacle, a pin threaded through the hub of thespider and engaging said seat to tension the same, a heatinsulatingfilling material in the space between the casing and receptacle, aclosure plate having a shoulder embracing the shoulder of said flange toclose the bottom opening, and screws for removably securing the closureplate'to the spider.

3. In combination with a container comprising an inner receptacle and anouter casing, a closure for the mouth of the receptacle having a portionseating freely on the rim of the receptacle, a set of cups having theirside walls formed with offsets of progressively varying degree wherebythe cups may be nested with the bottom'portion of one cup engagingthebottom portion of the next cup, a resilient abutment on the closure forengagement by the inner cup of said set when the cups are inverted overthe container neck, and a cover cup capacitated to be inverted over theinverted set'of cups, said cover cup and the casing having cooperatingscrew threads for removably securing the cover cup to the container, thecover cup having a portion for engaging the outer cup of said set,whereby the closure is pressed against its seat when the cups are insecured positionwj I 4. A container comprising an inner rbep- I tacle,an outer casing Spaced therefr 'm and having a bottom openingcapacitated 20K passage of the receptacle, the casing having an uprightflange defining said opening, a spider having downwardly extendingflanges on its arms, the arms having end portions extending beyond saidflangesforseating on the rim of said-upright flange, whereby the spidermay be centered by engagement, of the ends of said spider flanges withsaid upright flange, a yieldable seat for the receptacle supported fromsaid spider, a closure plate for said bottom opening, and screws forremovably securing the closure plate to the spider.

In testimonywhereof, we have hereunto set our hands.

JOSEPH F. LAMB. FRANK W. SCHADE.

